3rd ?May, 2025, EFL Championship.
It was our destiny wasn’t it? In hindsight it certainly feels like it. A 91st minute winner to pip Burnley to the title just when the podium and another replica Championship trophy were being readied at Turf Moor!
Somehow it feels ‘just’, the correct outcome. For much of the season Leeds were the best team in the Championship, not perhaps the best defensively – that honour obviously does belong to the Clarets – but the team that scored the most goals, had the best goal difference and the team that, overall, played the most entertaining and fluent football. And in any case, as everyone now knows, when Liverpool win the first tier title, Leeds win the second tier title! It was our destiny.
What a couple of weeks we’ve had? It all started with that incredible goal fest against Stoke, scoring six in a game where the pressure on the players ought to have been stifling, but when instead, we laid the gauntlet down for Sheffield United to try to prevent our promotion. Then there were those incredible scenes outside Elland Road as players and fans celebrated the main prize; promotion to the Holy Grail of the Premier League. Then we saw off Bristol City, with pretty much the same dominant display we’d seen against Stoke, and we matched the Burnley result to take the title to the final day. And now we’ve had two days and nights of Leeds United celebrations, before, and after, the victory at Home park in the sunshine of Plymouth; incredible scenes on Friday and Saturday that may be, for all I know, are still going on strong even now as I’m finally back home on Sunday afternoon!
The game saw Leeds as dominant as ever, but a combination of missed chances and another close offside call meant we had to wait until that 91st minute for the best celebration of all; the harder fought the victory, the more enjoyable are the spoils of course! We’ve been totally dominant in most games this season but, when we have been, there have been two distinctly different outcomes throughout. On some occasions, we’ve scored lots of goals and won games at a canter but, equally, there have been many games where, for umpteen reasons, our dominance of the game wasn’t reflected in the score; it was pretty much the case of course with our four league defeats; all by a single goal when we were still the better team but when we’d been poor in front of goal, or the opposition keeper played like a super-hero and when one solitary defensive error cost us.
And the Plymouth game had all the hallmarks of that sort of a game; Plymouth having a couple of early chances through poor defensive work from Leeds and putting one of them away and then Leeds toiling away, dominating the possession and making all the openings but not finding a way through. We’d been warned early on when Mustapha Bundu struck the post for a first time, it was another example of why, few goals that we’ve conceded this season, defensively we are nowhere near good enough for the Premier League; expect a couple of major signings to bolster that area of the side. Bundu was luckier with his next effort of course as he again he got himself space in the area and was able to weave his way through us to fire at goal but this time his strike found the inside of the right post and the rebound came back and went in off the unfortunate Sam Byram. That was after 18 minutes.
The usual combination of bad luck and poor shooting meant we were still a goal adrift at the break – the best chances for Leeds being an early header by Joe Rodon that went straight at the keeper, an effort by Aaronson that he somehow scooped over the bar from a low Bogle cross, and a half-chance for Piroe when he deflected a Bogle shot over the bar. Brenden Aaronson also forced a decent save out of Plymouth stopper, Conor Hazard, and Manor Solomon put a trademark shot over the top after cutting inside onto his right. Leeds had no less than 15 shots in that first half, compared to just 4 for the Pilgrims but only 2 of ours hit the target, a feature we’ve grown used to over these past nine months – imagine how many goals we might have scored if we could shoot low and straight!
The second half began in the same fashion, Joel Piroe letting loose from distance but again seeing the shot balloon over the bar. Finally, in the 53rd minute we got the breakthrough and it was a goal, the template of which we’ve seen many times this season. This one came from a low Manor Solomon cross from near the left byline after many probing Leeds passes in the build-up, Willy Gnonto finishing at the back post. We’ve seen Manor and Dan James set up plenty like this all season.
For about ten minutes then, Leeds were in pole position again, Burnley also drawing 1 – 1 at that stage against Millwall. But then the news filtered through that Jaidon Anthony (just had to be him again didn’t it?) had scored for the Clarets thus putting them two points ahead of Leeds. About the same time that Anthony scored for Burnley, Sam Byram should have put Leeds ahead and it would have been nice for him to wipe out that unfortunate own goal. He met a Solomon corner with a glancing header under no pressure at all but sent the ball wide. He should have scored. We then had that dubious offside call ruling out a Joel Piroe effort, although I still reckon it was offside. From behind that goal we could clearly see that Jaydon Bogle got a touch to the ball as it went through to Willy Gnonto and it was that touch that put Willy offside (although if the liner spotted that touch then he’s got perfect 20-20 vision!). Mark Clattenburg has made a big thing of calling out the officials for that offside call but I reckon he’s wrong and, for once, they probably got it right on the pitch.
Thankfully, Manor Solomon came up with the all-important goal in the 91st minute, about the same time that Burnley must have thought they’d won the title themselves as they went 3 – 1 up. The Solomon finish was from about the spot that Bunto earlier hit the outside of the right post, but Manor curled his low shot perfectly inside the right corner of the net and the latest round of celebrations could begin a few minutes later!
We watched as Paraag Marathe brought out the trophy, placed it on its pedestal, and then kissed it passionately; we watched as Ethan raised it and then each player in turn got his chance to do the same. Then we demanded a song from each player and they each nominated the chant of another player for the fans to sing. One slightly awkward sight was that of Karl Darlow getting his chant while Illan Meslier at the back of the group had none. Then during the Willy Gnonto chant Ethan pulled down Willy's shorts at the appropriate moment in the chant! Over in the stand to our left we could see Eddie Gray who no doubt had a few tears in his eyes again. The celebrations went on and on until the Plymouth ground staff decided they wanted to get things cleared up so they could go home!
Back in the Barbican area of Plymouth after the game, it was bedlam! Thousands of fans out in the street, several taking a dip in the murky waters of the harbour, and blue, white and yellow flares adding more colour to the proceedings. Those crowds were still revelling well into the early hours and the pubs of Plymouth should be well set for many months to come!!
And that’s it! The title wrapped up, Daniel Farke now, finally, getting the support of Paraag Marathe in public, and we can all go away and enjoy the summer. The new season will be here soon enough and, before that, the excitement of seeing new faces arrive at the club. We know it will be tough, we know we have to find the right players to transform a great Championship side into a stable Premier League one but I reckon we can do it! See you next season!
Sky Bet Championship
Plymouth Argyle 1 (Byram 18’ og)
Leeds United 2 (Gnonto 53’, Solomon 90’)
Plymouth: Hazard (GK), Mumba, Szucs (Katic 78’), Edwards (C) (Sorinola 78’), Hardie, Bundu (Baidoo 81’), Randell, Tijani (Wright 67’), Roberts (Boateng 67’), Talovierov, Palsson. Subs not used: Grimshaw (GK), Ogbeta, Houghton, Issaka.
Leeds: Darlow (GK), Bogle (Joseph 90’), Ampadu (C), Rodon, Piroe, Aaronson (Ramazani 79’), Solomon, Tanaka (Bamford 79’), Byram (Wöber 69’), Gnonto, Gruev. Subs not used: Meslier (GK), Rothwell, Guilavogui, Schmidt, Gray.
Referee: Jeremy Simpson
Booked: Tijani, Palsson (Plymouth) Piroe, Solomon (Leeds)
Venue: Home Park
Attendance: 16,758